Coming soon
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
TV / Coming soon Ashlie Atkinson will be in the new Fox series 'Us & Them'
Little Rock native Ashlie Atkinson has a role on the upcoming Fox comedy "Us & Them" (it's a de-Anglicized version of the Brit series "Gavin & Stacey").
It's a rom-com-type program in which two super attractive people finally get up the gumption to meet in person after making goo-goo eyes at each other over the internet. Naturally, they each recruit their respective weirdo siblings (Atkinson and Dustin Ybarra) to come along as wingmen.
The two main characters are played by this guy and this woman who were in some other stuff, but who cares about them, because Atkinson and Ybarra look to be way more interesting and funny. Also: small roles for Kerri Kenney and Michael Ian Black!
Check out the trailer after the jump. And oh yeah, "cobra basket."
H/t to Vulture, which reports that "Us & Them" will air mid-season sometime.
Posted by Robert Bell | Permalink | Comments (1)
Monday, May 13, 2013
Film / Coming soon Here's the schedule for Movies in the Park
The Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau just released the lineup for this year's Movies in the Park, the quite popular series of free outdoor film screenings that take place at Riverfest Amphitheater long about dusk on midsummer Wednesday nights.
This year kicks off June 12 with "Twilight: Breaking Dawn," which concerns vampires and werewolves or something, if I'm not mistaken. The lineup is heavy on feelgood and popcorn-flick fare — "Remember the Titans" (June 19), "The Notebook" (June 26), "The Dark Knight Rises" (July 3). That's to be expected, for sure. Gotta give the people what they want, and what they want is the crowd-pleasing blockbusters. But wouldn't it be funny if, just for one year, Movies in the Park went really weird? Like, way-off-the-rails arthouse/trashy B-movie/exploitation-type weird?
What if the Movies in the Park schedule was like:
June 4: "Blue Velvet"
June 11: "Holy Mountain"
June 18: "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song"
June 21: "Suspiria"
June 28: "The Harder They Come"
July 5: "Weekend"
July 12: "Weekend at Bernie's"
July 19: "Pink Flamingos"
July 26: "The Hills Have Eyes"
Aug. 2: "Fellini Satyricon"
Actually, looking at that list reinforces what a gigantic failure that lineup would undoubtedly be (though it would be amazing to watch "Holy Mountain" outside on the big screen surrounded by a cross-section of Central Arkansawyers). Probably better to just stick to "The Zookeeper" (July 10), "Finding Nemo" (July 24) and so forth. The press release with a full (and real) schedule is after the jump.
Posted by Robert Bell | Permalink | Comments (4)
Friday, May 10, 2013
Music / Coming soon / Theater UCA unveils 2013-2014 Public Appearances lineup
If you're interested in catching the standup comedy of Bill Cosby, the gentle country stylings of Pam Tillis and Lorrie Morgan, an evening with Tony-winning actress and singer Audra McDonald or an mind-blowingly intriguing presentation from astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, you will be pleased to know that all of those folks are on the bill for the University of Central Arkansas's upcoming Public Appearances series.
Other highlights: "The Addams Family Musical," journalist Lisa Ling, The Haifa Symphony Orchestra and a performance from Bela Fleck and Chick Corea.
A press release with the full schedule is available after the jump.
Posted by Robert Bell | Permalink | Comments (2)
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Coming soon / King Biscuit Marcia Ball, Robert Cray, Greg Allman Band to headline King Biscuit Blues
The King Biscuit Blues Festival released the lineup for this year's festival, and the headliners are Marcia Ball, Robert Cray and The Greg Allman Band.
Other big blues names on the bill will be familiar to KBBF fans: Bobby Rush, James Cotton, Paul Thorn. Here's the full schedule. The festival is Oct. 10-12.
Posted by Robert Bell | Permalink | Comments
Friday, April 26, 2013
Music / Coming soon Reminder: Arkansas Times Heritage Hog Roast is coming up
Hey y'all, this here is just a friendly reminder that next Saturday — May 4 is the date — your pals at the Times will be putting on a humdinger of a party: The Arkansas Times Heritage Hog Roast.
It's going to have all of the ingredients for a great time: music (including the highly acclaimed Cajun act The Lost Bayou Ramblers), beer and wine (several delicious brews from Schlafly Beer) and, of course, mounds of smoky, succulent, slow-roasted pork and a whole bunch of fantastic sides and fixings, all made by some of the finest chefs in the area. Each team will be roasting a 100-lb. heritage breed hog from Falling Sky Farm.
The teams include Argenta Market, Café Bossa Nova, Capital Hotel, Country Club of Little Rock, The Italian Kitchen at Lulav, The Root, Local Lime, Maddie’s Place, Reno’s Argenta Café, Ristorante Capeo and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
The other musical acts are Mandy McBryde, Davis Coen, Bonnie Montgomery, Riverboat Crime and 2013 Times Musicians Showcase winners The Sound of the Mountain.
Tickets are $25 in advance ($30 at the gate) and that includes all the food you can eat between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. If you're mainly into seeing the bands, you can get in for $10 after 7 p.m. (but you'll be missing out on the aforementioned mounds of succulent, slow-cooked pork). You can get your tickets here.
Come on out and see us, it's going to be a big ol' time!
Posted by Robert Bell | Permalink | Comments
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Coming soon / WTF? Black Flag to Fayetteville!
Well this is certainly the weirdest thing I've seen all day. I mean, I'd heard about the reunion, or rather, the reunions. I knew Greg Ginn was back with Ron Reyes and was calling it Black Flag and was planning on doing a huge tour playing new music (you really should read this incredible story in Vice, if you haven't yet). And I knew that Keith Morris, Chuck Dukowski, Bill Stevenson, Dez Cadena and Stephen Egerton from The Descendents had started a band called Flag and were planning a tour, playing the hits.
I don't even really know what to think about it, to be quite honest. It's really making me feel weird, stirring up a lot of conflicting thoughts and emotions and residual teenage angst. I never saw Black Flag back when, being about nine years old when they broke up. But I endured years of hearing about the legendary Fayetteville show from older friends who'd been there (and a couple who I think were BS-ing me, as they would have been about 11 or 12 at the time).
The whole thing is just totally bizarre, and while I want to dismiss it all out of hand as a bald cash-grab, a small part of me can't help but feel excited. A few years ago, I reviewed a Misfits concert for the Times. It was pretty cheesy, as expected, but also weird, because Dez Cadena was playing guitar and Robo was on drums, which meant the band was 2/3 Black Flag and 1/3 Misfits. I'd been sitting there, dispassionately observing the show. But when they tore into "Jealous Again" and "Rise Above," some vestigial lizard-brain part of me took over and I jumped out of my seat and started screaming along.
Hell, I've been sitting here typing this and listening to "My War" and it still gives me goosebumps. Over the last 20 years or so, I've had long and impassioned arguments with good friends about who was the best singer and what was the best album (and whether "The First Four Years" counts as an album, which, yes it totally does!) and the merits of their later material and on and on.
I don't know really how to feel about this. But I'm pretty sure I know where I'm going to be on June 22.
Posted by Robert Bell | Permalink | Comments (2)
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Coming soon Oxford American's South on Main books first event — Nathaniel Rich reading
Local writer Jay Jennings will emcee. The John Burnette Duo will play music.
The event starts at 7 p.m. and is free and open to the public.
That there's an event scheduled for mid-May doesn't mean the restaurant, also called South on Main, will be open then, I'm told. The restaurant/venue will eventually occupy what once was the venue section of Juanita's. The south wing of the space, where the Juanita's dining room used to be, is currently unused space, where the OA has previously hosted events for the Literary and Little Rock Film Festival. So that room is an option if construction on the restaurant/venue isn't complete.
Posted by Lindsey Millar | Permalink | Comments
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Film / Coming soon 'Ain't in it for My Health: A Film About Levon Helm' gets theatrical debut April 19
Looks they've lined up an official U.S. theatrical debut of "Ain't in it for My Health: A Film About Levon Helm." The documentary about the Phillips County native and musical legend will premiere April 19 at Cinema Village in New York "before showing in select cities," according to AM Magazine. You might recall that April 19 is the one-year anniversary of Helm's death.
After the jump, check out the trailers for the film. It looks awesome. Filmmaker Jacob Hatley basically lived with Helm and crew up in Woodstock, N.Y. for more than two years, filming the whole time. A lot of the film involves Levon sitting around his table telling stories, which sounds like something I could listen to for about two billion hours before getting tired of it. If you've read "This Wheel's On Fire," (which you really, really should have) you already know that the man had a true gift for storytelling.
Personally, I'm crossing my fingers that "Ain't in it for My Health" will be among the films set to be announced April 15 for the Little Rock Film Festival.
Posted by Robert Bell | Permalink | Comments
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Music / Coming soon / Riverfest Daughtry, Sugar Ray, Darius Rucker, Lupe Fiasco, Drive By Truckers, Peter Frampton and more to Riverfest
Riverfest (May 24-26) announced its 2013 main stage lineup today, and among the headliners are Daughtry, Sugar Ray, Bush, Dierks Bentley, Darius Rucker, Lupe Fiasco, Drive By Truckers and Peter Frampton.
Friday's headliners are Daughtry on the Bud Light Stage and Rodney Atkins, Jana Kramer and Rucker on the Miller Lite/AFCU Stage (a.k.a. Riverfest Amphitheater).
Saturday sees Sugar Ray, Blackstone Cherry and Bush on the Bud stage and Lupe Fiasco and Kelly Rowland on the Miller stage. On Sunday, hometown favorite Cody Belew plays the Bud stage with country duo Florida Georgia Line and Bentley, while Drive By Truckers and Peter Frampton headliner the Miller stage.
Press release is included after the jump.
Thoughts so far?
Posted by Robert Bell | Permalink | Comments (16)
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Music / Coming soon Lynyrd Skynyrd, Collective Soul, Little Big Town and more to Magic Springs
Magic Springs unveiled its 2013 concert lineup recently. It's a mix of established acts and newer ones, with pop, rock, country and gospel represented. The Aug. 3 slot is still TBA. As in years past, the concerts at Timberwood Amphitheater are free with a season pass or GA ticket, though for $5-$10 extra you can reserve a seat.
Kicking off the season is bubble-grunge favorite Collective Soul on May 25. Take a look under the passenger seat in your '92 Accord and you might just find a cassingle copy of the band's megahit "Shine." On June 1, you can get a dose of '80s nostalgia with Night Ranger and Firehouse.
"A Little More Country Than That" singer Easton Corbin is on the slate for June 8, while June 14-15 will be a praise-filled weekend, with Dove Award winners Building 429 and DC Talk alum and Christian rap pioneer TobyMac.
Country quartet Little Big Town brings their vocal harmonies and slick pop-informed hits on June 22, followed by the Fogerty-less sounds of Creedence Clearwater Revisited June 29. On July 6, Lynyrd Skynyrd rolls into town, though our own Jim Harris was less than impressed with the band's performance last year at Riverfest. Maybe it was just an off night.
Other highlights include Canadian rockers Theory of a Deadman on July 27, CCM up-and-comers Needtobreathe on Aug. 10 and Radio Disney star Coco Jones. The full press release is available after the jump.
Posted by Robert Bell | Permalink | Comments
Monday, March 18, 2013
Music / Coming soon Pink to Verizon Arena
This one's a ways off yet, but Pink will be bringing her over-the-top pop spectacle to Verizon Arena on Sunday, Nov. 17. Tickets for this stop on the "Truth About Love Tour" go on sale March 30 at 10 a.m. and they're going to run you between $52-$118. More info here.
Now before you balk at that upper-end ticket price, you should realize that Pink's stage show involves a whole lot of ropes and pulleys and gymnastical feats of derring-do from Pink herself as well as a bevy of buff dudes. So having a good seat will be big deal for this one. The Detroit News called it a "high-flying, even death-defying concert that made most earthbound pop stars look downright lazy."
Posted by Robert Bell | Permalink | Comments (1)
Friday, March 15, 2013
Music / Coming soon Vince Gill, Gatlin Brothers, Cash family to 2013 Johnny Cash Music Festival
I don't have too many more details at this point, but the third annual Johnny Cash Music Festival will feature headliners Vince Gill, The Gatlin Brothers and members of the Cash family. It'll once more be hosted at the Convocation Center at Arkansas State University.
Those of you who were torn last year because the Cash fest fell the same weekend as the King Biscuit Blues Festival, fret not! This year, the celebration of The Man in Black will be Aug. 17. The show will start at 7 p.m. Tickets go on sale April 1. The Times will be doing buses again this year. Stay tuned, we'll have more details as they become available.
Posted by Robert Bell | Permalink | Comments
TV / Coming soon Get yourself a gander at the upcoming series 'Rectify' from Ray McKinnon
Entertainment Weekly has an exclusive preview of the new series "Rectify," created by Ray McKinnon. The six-episode series kicks off April 22 with a two-hour premiere on the Sundance Channel.
The show is about Daniel Holden, who was released after serving 19 years on death row for the rape and murder of his girlfriend. DNA evidence exonerates him, but the residents of his small hometown aren't so sure. McKinnon said he was inspired by the real-life release of inmates who said they wanted a steak dinner and a beer when they got out. But McKinnon wondered what the rest of that first day out — and all the days that followed that one — might be like.
Producers Mark Johnson and Melissa Bernstein are also responsible for the near universally hailed AMC series "Breaking Bad." Johnson told EW however that the shows won't have much in common beyond the fact that "if you were going to go in and pitch either one of those to a studio executive at a movie studio, you’d probably get thrown out the door.”
The shows looks hella intriguing and Aden Young, who plays Holden, has that deeply haunted man-on-the-edge vibe down heavy. Note: former Times columnist Graham Gordy is one of the writers on the show and also plays Pastor Beau.
Posted by Robert Bell | Permalink | Comments
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Music / Coming soon Jason Aldean to Verizon Arena May 11
Indeedy, "She's Country" singer Jason Aldean is coming to Verizon Arena May 11 on his Night Train Tour, which I realize is probably named after his recent "Night Train" album, but am really hoping was inspired by that other Night Train.
Openers are Jake Owen and Thomas Rhett. Tickets are $41-$69 and go on sale at 10 a.m. March 22. The calendar-inclined among y'all will note that May 11 is a Saturday, so expect a big night out for lots of folks.
Posted by Robert Bell | Permalink | Comments
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Coming soon / Theater Arkansas Repertory Theatre announces 2013-2014 season
The Arkansas Repertory Theatre unveiled its 2013-2014 season yesterday afternoon at a champagne reception in its lobby.
A re-concieved version of the Rodgers & Hart classic "Pal Joey" kicks off the season (Sept. 6-29). The new incarnation "explodes with song and dance while exploring morality, race, class and the timeless relationship between power and sex," according to a Rep press release.
Up next is "Red" (Oct. 25-Nov. 10), a bio-drama about a tense period in the life of painter Mark Rothko. The play is produced in partnership with the Arkansas Arts Center, which has an upcoming Rothko exhibit called "Mark Rothko in the 1940's: The Decisive Decade."
Next is a world premiere musical, "Because of Winn Dixie" (Dec. 6-29), based on the Kate DeCamillo novel and created by a Tony-winning team, including Grammy-winning songwriter Duncan Sheik. The show will be "the first pre-Broadway musical starring a live dog as the central character," according to The Rep.
"Clybourne Park" (Jan. 24-Feb. 9) is a "bitingly funny and fiercely provocative new play about the volatile combination of race and real estate."
"Les Miserables", that unstoppable juggernaut of musical theater, returns (March 7-30, 2014) and with it, actor Douglas Webster in the role of Jean Valjean. You can get your yucks on with The Second City (April 21-May 4, 2014). The laughs continue with the season closer, "The Compleat Wrks of Wllm Shkspr (Abridged)" (June 6-22, 2014). The widely loved truncation is "a parody of the 37 plays written by William Shakespeare, with all of them being performed in shortened, and side-splitting, form."
After the jump, check out The Rep's complete press release about the 2013-2014 season.
Posted by Robert Bell | Permalink | Comments (3)
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Re: Friday To-Do: Good Time Ramblers
So excited about this show!!!
- on May 16, 2013
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